The Little Things
by bekahbabe
Summary: A fun little holiday story. Someone is making sure that Ziva has a Chanukah to remember.
1. December 21, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!

* * *

_December 21, 2008_

Ziva smiled to herself as she settled into her chair and soaked in the quiet familiarity of the squadroom. She looked around the still empty room and remembered her initial surprise as the 7 am start of business. Three years later she still rose with or before the sun; using the time to run through her personal workout, meditate, eat, and prepare for the day ahead. Even with all that, she was nearly always the first agent to arrive in the morning.

'_Guess I better tackle that paperwork before Vance tries to confine me to desk duty again.'_ Ziva grimaced at the ever-growing stack of forms and reports. As her computer hummed to life she went through the routine of checking the chamber and safety of her handgun before stowing it and her badge away in the desk drawer. The moment she slid the drawer open, well-trained eyes spotted something amiss.

"What's this?" she wondered aloud as she lifted the small toy that had definitely not been there when she left the night before. She carefully studied the simple wooden dreidel with the blue ribbon bow tied around it. Her eyes narrowed instantly as she considered the possibility that it could be dangerous, a bug or some kind of tracking device. Reminding herself that the NCIS Headquarters was well and heavily guarded against intruders, she calmed and twirled the toy between her thumb and forefinger thoughtfully.

The little blue bow was a delicate, hand-tied gift bow. A soft smile rose unbidden on Ziva's face as she realized that someone had left her the little trinket to celebrate the start of Chanukah. But who? Whomever it was, they had certainly done their homework. Ziva traced the Pei character and thought of her home land. This dreidel had almost certainly come directly from Israel before finding its way to her desk. With a quick glance to ensure the squadroom was still empty, she gave in to the childish impulse and gave it her best spin. When it finally toppled over to show Gimel, Ziva's face lit up. "Ha!


	2. December 22, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!  


* * *

_December 22, 2008_

Ziva rubbed her sleep swollen eyes as she stepped off the elevator. They'd caught a case late in the day and by the time Gibbs was satisfied that the crime scene was fully processed and sent them home for the night it was nearly sunrise. She only managed to squeeze in about three hours of rest before heading back to HQ. She looked up in surprise when she realized that one of her teammates was already hard at work.

"Good morning, Ziva." McGee's greeting was warm, if somewhat distracted as he offered a brief smile before going back to whatever was on his computer screen.

"Morning, Timothy. Hard at work, I see?"

"Yeah. Petty Officer Kemp's phone logs just came in."

"Ah. Any leads yet?"

"Nah."

"Guess I'll start looking into his records then."

McGee looked up at Ziva again. Both rolled their eyes as they thought of Gibbs, who they knew would be wanting answers the moment he set foot in the door.

Ziva turned back to her desk and shrugged out of her heavy pea coat and scarf. Next she slipped her gun from its holster and unclipped the badge at her waist. Pulling the desk drawer open, she was once again stopped short at the sight of a foreign object lying there. This time it was a small bag of chocolate coins, or dmei Chanukah as Ziva knew it. She stifled a small laugh of surprise. _'Guess I really did win the pot after all!'_ Carefully, Ziva tucked the little treat away in her bag. She knew better than to leave any kind of food in her desk, Tony would get into it the second she turned her back.

Her gaze fell on McGee as she straightened back up in her seat. His attention was still firmly on the luds in front of him. Ziva studied him silently, wondering if perhaps he was the one responsible for the presents. _'Hmmm.'_ He obviously would have been able to place the coins before she got in that morning. And come to think of it, she remembered leaving before him on Saturday evening. He could have placed the dreidel that night. She knew her 'evidence' was pretty flimsy, but she decided to keep a closer eye on him anyway.


	3. December 23, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!

* * *

_December 23, 2008_

It was another early morning for Ziva David. She knew the snow had kept falling all night long turning the roads into a slushy mess. And while the team liked to give her a hard time about her driving, she knew it was best to leave home early and avoid the morning rush. Besides, she was a little curious what she might find when she got to work that day.

It took her a little while to shuck all the extra winter layers. As she ran her fingers through her hair to get rid of the static she glanced toward her desk drawer. She wondered whether there would even be anything there, considering it was so early and she hadn't noticed anyone else in the building besides herself and the guards. Ignoring her normal routine, she simply sat down and reached for the drawer handle.

Sure enough, there was a small green velvet drawstring bag sitting front and center in the drawer. The contents shifted and made a strange clinking noise when she lifted the bag. Ziva raised a brow as she briefly searched her mind to place the sound and came up empty. _'Guess there is only one way to find out!'_ She eased the bunched up fabric apart carefully and peeked inside. Light glinted off her newest treasure and invited a deeper inspection. She tilted the pouch and dumped a handful of the marbles into her open palm. They were glass marbles of all different designs. Some classic cats eye marbles, some solid colored, some swirled in milky patterns; all of them beautiful and shiny. Ziva rolled them around in her hand enjoying their cold smoothness. She inspected each little sphere individually before carefully depositing them in her empty coffee mug. In the second handful she noticed one marble that was a good deal larger than all the rest. It caught her eye not just because of its size, but also the design. It was a cats eye with an iridescent green center that seemed to shift from yellow to olive to hunter and back again as the light hit it. It was beautiful and seemed familiar somehow. But like the sound of the marbles earlier, she couldn't quite place it.

Deciding that the marbles looked pretty in her clear glass mug, Ziva emptied the rest into it and left them displayed on her desk. This way not only would she get to enjoy them for the rest of the day, she could also judge her teammates' responses and maybe learn who was behind it. She now seriously doubted that it was McGee because he'd left early on Monday for a doctor's appointment. She also realized upon giving it further thought that although they were good friends, McGee had always been somewhat afraid of her and would probably be wary of ever trying anything sneaky with her. Tony, on the other hand….


	4. December 24, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!

* * *

_December 24, 2008_

Ziva's mind was already on her mystery gift giver as she rode the elevator up to the squadroom. Her plan with the marbles hadn't been as fruitful as she'd hoped. Sure, plenty of people noticed and asked her about them, but all the inquiries seemed genuine. The team's reactions were all pretty typical. Abby looked at them excitedly and declared them 'cool!' Ducky explained that the larger marble was a shooter and recounted a story from his youth about his own lucky shooter. Tony mocked her, asking if a marble was a more dangerous weapon than a paperclip and moved to fling one at McGee but Ziva stole it back before he could. McGee asked her if she was planning to collect marbles and mentioned something about Antiques Roadshow. Gibbs of course didn't actually say anything, he simply looked at the marbles then up at Ziva with a raised brow. Since no one had responded suspiciously, Ziva wasn't any closer to finding answers. And after returning from Abby's lab to find Tony clumsily juggling three of the marbles, she realized they were probably not from him. If they were, surely he would not treat them so cavalierly. Not to mention that his gifts to women always tended to have sexual undertones.

Still, she was eager to see what new little trinket would be waiting for her that day. Her eyes widened as she lifted a beautiful hand-carved wooden horse from the drawer. It was posed as though in mid gallop and the rustic chisel marks seemed to enhance the feel of motion. The dark wood was oiled to a smooth shine that seemed to invite Ziva's touch. This was no ordinary horse figurine that you could just pick up at any gift shop; it was obviously made by a true craftsman.

Ziva continued to caress the wood thoughtfully as she remembered her multiple teatime conversations with Ducky about horses and riding. _'Could be… he has always been very generous with me.'_ She reminded herself that the whole team knew of her love for horses and it could well have been anyone. _'Gibbs! He builds boats all the time, surely he also knows how to carve.'_ Of course Ziva knew that her gift giver did not necessarily carve the horse. Besides, she wasn't having much luck with her guesses thus far. Each time she thought she might be on to someone, she ended up thinking of something else that eased her suspicions. Her mind was racing as she considered, not for the first time, the possibility that perhaps her coworkers were all in on it together. She supposed only time would tell.


	5. December 25, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!

* * *

_December 25, 2008_

It was another freezing morning and Ziva wasted no time in tugging off her heavy winter outerwear once inside the warmth of the office. She strode excitedly to her desk and threw the bulky layers haphazardly over the top as she opened the drawer. A beautifully framed 8 x 10 picture nearly filled the entire drawer.

Ziva withdrew the picture carefully and smiled as she looked into the familiar faces of her team. Everyone was in the picture; Tony, McGee, Gibbs, Ducky, Abby and Ziva herself. It wasn't posed of course, rather just a candid shot of the team talking. _'Maybe one of those silly campfires?'_ Ziva couldn't imagine who would have been able to take this photo.

She studied the photo carefully for a moment and turned to look up at the balcony. She scanned the length of the balcony until she spotted the tiny security camera near the ceiling. Indeed it was aimed directly down at the area of the squadroom her team shared. _'Hmm.'_

She gave the camera another glance before turning her attention back to the photo. It was really a remarkable photo now that she knew it had come from a security camera. Usually the security photos and video footage they dealt with were grainy and low quality, and tended to get even worse when blown up for closer inspection. Someone really had to know what they were doing to produce this picture.

Ziva knew only two of her teammates were capable of the task. She looked at McGee's profile, recognizing the determined set of his jaw and that look in his eyes that let her know his mind was racing to analyze data in the same manner as his beloved computers. Yes, he could certainly have captured and enhanced the photograph in her hands.

Then there was Abby. Ziva traced a slim finger over the image of the feisty scientist. She appeared to be the one speaking to the rest of the team, hands flying to emphasize her point and eyes flashing with excitement over some newfound discovery. Ziva smiled indulgently as she thought of just how many times she'd seen that look in her pretty green eyes. Ziva's own eyes widened as that thought triggered another. _'Could it be?'_ As before, her mind was just as quick to try to dismiss the thought as little more than coincidence. Gibbs may not believe in coincidences, but Ziva wasn't always so sure.


	6. December 26, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!

* * *

_December 26, 2008_

It was early afternoon before Ziva and Tony arrived at HQ. Ziva's day had begun at 4 am with a gruff phone call from Gibbs letting her know she was needed at a crime scene at Quantico. After processing the scene, she and Tony had stayed at the barracks to interview more than a dozen Marines about their dead Lance Corporal. No one seemed to know anything, at least that they were telling. Ziva was beyond frustrated as they reported back to Gibbs.

She was even more frustrated when Gibbs simply thrust a list of names and numbers into her hand. "Leads from McGee. Get calling." He didn't bother to stop or look over his shoulder as he headed for the elevator. "I'm going for coffee."

Ziva sat heavily and let her head drop to the desk. She tugged her gun and badge free and set them beside her. Her eyes flew open as she realized she hadn't yet checked her drawer. She looked around to see Tony's desk empty and McGee hard at work. _'Good enough. Otherwise, I would have to wait for them to leave for the day.'_

Shifting just slightly so she could ease the drawer open, Ziva peeked inside. It was a book of some kind. Ziva reached for the book and enjoyed the buttery softness of the leather cover. It was black and had an intricate hand-tooled design depicting leafy vines that seemed to be twining around and growing out of the book itself. A thin strand of leather was wrapped around it and held fast with a small silver button shaped into an ivy leaf. Ziva wondered what, if anything, she would find inside as she slid the button loose. She flipped through the pages and saw that they were blank, that it was meant to be a journal. A strange impulse led her to flip all the way to the last page of the journal. At the bottom right corner of the page she saw a short, carefully written passage in Hebrew. It said simply, "For beautiful thoughts."

Ziva felt the warmth rush through her at the simple inscription and the thought behind it. She had never kept a journal before, knowing that for her to do so would be dangerous. And yet she felt no doubt whatsoever that she would soon fill the blank pages before her. She also had no doubt that the first beautiful thoughts she would write would be about her mysterious benefactor. With only two days of Chanukah left, she hoped that her suspicions about who it was would soon be confirmed.


	7. December 27, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!

* * *

_December 27, 2008_

Ziva enjoyed her rising sense of anticipation as she boarded the elevator in the lobby. She could hardly wait to get to her desk to see what delightful surprise had been left for her this time. Little did she know that she wouldn't have to wait even that long.

The moment the doors slid open, a flash of blue caught her eye. Waiting on her desk, situated exactly above the drawer they couldn't possibly have fit in, was a small vase full of irises. Ziva looked around quickly as she stepped in to the room, but of course there was no one there but herself. She strode eagerly to her desk to take a closer look. The flowers were a vivid blue, with equally bright splashes of yellow at the center of the petals. _'The colors of Chanukah!'_

A wide smile lit Ziva's face as she impulsively plucked one of the flowers from the vase and brought it to her nose. There was just the slightest hint of sweet fragrance. Ziva closed her eyes as sense memory took over. Just as irises grow wild in the US, they grow too in Israel. She remembered being fascinated by the beautiful rainbow of wildflowers when she was very young, before her sense of wonder was dulled by all her training.

Ziva's smile grew impossibly wider when she realized that she had been feeling that same sense of child-like wonder for the last week. And if her suspicions were correct, this intangible gift of wonder was completely intentional. As beautiful and thoughtful as each of the individual gifts had been, the revelation she had in that moment was the biggest gift of all.


	8. December 28, 2008

**Disclaimer:** These characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Bellisarius Productions, CBS, Paramount, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

**A/N:** I am not Jewish, so please forgive me any small mistakes I may make regarding the customs, etc. I'm trying my best to be accurate. It was just too fun an idea to pass up!  


* * *

_December 28, 2008_

'_Today is the day!_' Ziva didn't bother to conceal her excitement as she entered the building. She smiled at the soldiers on security detail and made her way up to the squadroom. She was surprised to find both Tony and McGee already at their desks, but her smile never wavered. "Good morning, boys!" Both men looked up curiously at her warm greeting. Saying nothing more, she just offered them a mysterious grin as she settled into her chair. She couldn't help her snort of laughter when she watched the men look quizzically at each other in silent conversation, finding no answers between them.

"McGoogle, weren't we supposed to-" Tony urged with a meaningful look.

"Right, yeah! Let's go take care of that." McGee jumped from his seat and they both hurried toward the hall of interrogation rooms.

Ziva was more than happy to allow the boys to talk about her strange behavior behind her back if it meant getting rid of them for a few moments. Now alone, she carefully pulled the drawer open. A bed of tissue paper protected her last gift and a card peeked out from beneath it. She lifted the fragile gift from its little nest. It was a small stained glass Magen David that fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. The six points alternated in color between blue and milky white and the hexagon at the center was clear. A tiny hanger at the tip of one point was tied with a loop of ribbon. Ziva threaded her finger through the loop and allowed the star to dangle before her, catching the early morning sun through the window. She watched as the glass spun slightly and bounced rays of blue light around the room. The glinting of light was mesmerizing, but not enough to distract Ziva from the card still in her drawer.

She set the star down gently and reached for the card. The front was plain white but had a large embossed menorah on it. Ziva traced the familiar symbol reverently for a moment. Then, holding her breath subconsciously, she opened the card. There was no writing inside but what she found made her smile brightly nonetheless. It was a single, perfect black fingerprint.

Ziva carefully placed the delicate star back in the safety of her drawer and headed for the elevator, card in hand. Her arrival in the basement went unnoticed due to the loud Christmas carols emanating from Abby's office. She watched for a moment as the scientist bounced around the tinsel filled lab working and humming along with the stereo.

Abby finally turned and saw the woman hovering in her doorway. "Hi, Ziva! Whatcha got for me?"

Ziva stepped further into the lab and lifted the card, flashing the fingerprint at Abby.

"Oh, you need me to run a fingerprint?"

"Actually," Ziva inched closer to Abby, "That might not be necessary." Ziva gently grasped Abby's right hand and lifted it up between them. Wordlessly she guided her to lift her index finger for Ziva's inspection. Ziva was silent for another long moment as she carefully compared Abby's finger to the print on the card. Finally she looked up at Abby with a smile and a raised brow. "Guess I got my match." Still looking warmly into Abby's eyes, Ziva pressed a soft kiss to the other woman's fingertip before releasing her hand.

A pink flush spread on Abby's face as she looked back at Ziva. "How… um, how did you know it was me? I thought I did a good job of covering my tracks."

"You did. And I didn't know, at least not for sure, until just now." It was Ziva's turn to blush as she continued, "But I hoped it was you."

_**FIN**_


End file.
